THE former deputy director of the CIA has accused Vladimir Putin of recruiting Donald Trump as an "unwitting agent" of Russia.

Career intelligence official Michael Morell denounced the Republican candidate as a threat to national security after claiming President Putin had played upon his "vulnerabilities by complimenting him".

His attack on Mr Trump came in a scathing article where Mr Morell chose to fully endorse Hillary Clinton as the next US President, while predicting her rival would be a "poor, even dangerous, commander in chief".